


Into the Deep

by bookwormchocaholic



Series: Skin Deep Series [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Child Abuse, Other, anti-eva, anti-leopold, anti-the apprentice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 14:11:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7511381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookwormchocaholic/pseuds/bookwormchocaholic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With the help of a powerful wizard, Rumpelstiltskin begins to develop his magic and learns who he can trust. This should be read after the Prologue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Into the Deep

**Author's Note:**

> There are a couple of differences between this story and the Skin Deep verse. In Chapter One of the Skin Deep verse, King Leopold was described as a good man who had been decent to Rumple. And per that chapter, Queen Eva had kept her distance and never looked Rumple in the eye. However, in this one-shot, King Leopold is shown as being occasionally decent as well as deceitful while Queen Eva does speak to Rumple and is abusive. So that is kind of contradictory, but I haven’t had the chance to change the earlier chapter. Thanks for bearing with me.

_Malcolm scrounged through the bag of gold that King Leopold plunked down on the table, fondling the coins._

_Rumpelstiltskin sucked in a sharp breath, pleading with the gods above to intervene. He had always done his best to be a good boy and be a credit to his papa. Surely his father knew how much he loved him. The man might be tempted by the royal’s deal, what poor man wouldn’t be? But his father wouldn’t sell his own flesh and blood._

_Malcolm gave a firm nod to the king. He turned to Rumpelstiltskin, shrugging one of his shoulders. “Sorry, laddie. This is my best chance.” He chucked him on the chin and swaggered off, onto his new life._

_Rumpelstiltskin shifted his feet, trying to raise them up for him to chase after his papa. But his legs were heavy as lead and he felt as though he were running through quicksand. “Papa, please don’t leave me!” He stumbled to his knees and extended his hand out to his papa’s retreating figure. “Papa, I’m scared. Come back!”_

_Malcolm paused and for a brief second hope welled up inside of Rumpelstiltskin. Casting a backwards glance over his shoulder, he winked and continued on._

_“Papa, come back!” Rumpelstiltskin screamed, his cries echoing through the length of the hallway. “You can’t leave me here! Papa!”_

#

Rumpelstiltskin shot upright in bed, panting, his heart thundering in his chest hard enough that it was painful. His face was dripping in sweat, his whole body was. His nightshirt and the sheets clung to his slight frame. The heat and dampness made locks of his hair clump together.

Three months had passed since his papa had sold him to the royals. Rather than improving, his nightmares had worsened. He would thrash about in the bed and wake himself crying out. No matter how loud he was in his sleep, no one dared to check on him. The servants cowered in his presence, determined to avoid him at all costs. As for the royals, the queen was still repulsed by his sight and made her displeasure widely known. The king could sleep through a battle being waged next to his bed.

Rumpelstiltskin wiped his moist eyes. Tears had mingled with droplets of sweat. His papa had often laughed at him whenever he cried, deeming him a baby. He tried to be brave and hold his tears back, but somehow his feelings always got the better of him.

A shrill scream roared in his ears. A scream that did not belong to him. The owner of the wails was none other than the queen herself.

“The queen is being killed!” Rumpelstiltskin exclaimed.

He threw back his covers and hopped down from the bed. Breaking out into a run, he rushed out into the hallway and ran down the corridor until he reached the wing the royal family resided in. Despite Queen Eva’s hatred for him, he couldn’t let the woman be killed.

His bare feet skidded to a squeaky stop when he encountered the king himself pacing back and forth. King Leopold looked grave, wiped out, but he did not seem frantic. Certainly the royal would be hysterical if someone was murdering his wife.

“What is happening? Is the queen dying?” Rumpelstiltskin asked.

King Leopold clapped his hands together. “Rumpelstiltskin, wonderful news. The heir to the throne is coming.” He replied.

“Where is he coming from?” Rumpelstiltskin wrinkled his nose in confusion.

Surely if there were a male heir out in the world, he would have heard something of it before. If so, why didn’t the heir live at the castle?

The king chuckled. “The queen is giving birth.”

Rumpelstiltskin’s mouth formed an “o.” He could not have lived ten years with Malcolm the Spinner and not know something about the facts of life. He didn’t know everything but he knew enough that it took a man and a woman and a bed to create a baby. After that, the woman would get fat because the baby would be in her stomach and then after some months, she’d spit it out.

Queen Eva had gotten pretty fat the last few months. Considering her appetite, that wasn’t surprising. There was no wonder that she was howling for all her life was worth, if she was spitting that baby out.

“It sounds like the baby is killing her.” Rumpelstiltskin stated, hoping the queen wouldn’t die.

That happened sometimes. His own mama had died giving birth to him. Malcolm had told him numerous times that she croaked as soon as he dropped out of her diseased womb.

“Nonsense,” The king shook his head, a hint of a smile still playing on his lips. “Childbirth is the most natural thing in the world.”

He didn’t find anything natural about a baby being spit out of its mother, or dropping out of a diseased womb, but he kept those thoughts to himself. No one cared much to hear his opinions.

Since he knew good and well that he would receive no hugs from anyone else, Rumpelstiltskin hugged himself. “King Leopold, please let me go home. Please.” That was not the first time he requested to go home. He had asked many times since his first night at the castle. “I miss my papa.”

The king gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. “Your papa was not good to you. You belong to the crown. This is your home now.” He reiterated.

No matter how many times the royal assured him that the castle was his home, Rumpelstiltskin knew better. He couldn’t recall when he last felt at home anywhere, but the castle certainly wasn’t it. The king and queen didn’t consider him family. A guest maybe, but then most guests could come and go as they pleased.

“No, it’s not. I hate it here.” Rumpelstiltskin stomped his foot. “I hate magic.” He spat out.

The congenial expression the king generally sported altered. “Hush. You must never say that. Someday you will understand that this is for the best.” King Leopold snapped his fingers and pointed in the opposite direction. Such a gesture was used when a master was commanding his dog. “Now, go back to bed. Go on.”

Rumpelstiltskin blinked back his tears. He would cry in his room, but never in front of the king. Turning his heel, he started to retrace his steps but stopped when the door to the royal’s chamber opened.

A portly woman donned in a modest, simple frock emerged, rubbing her palms together. “Wonderful news, my king. The child is a girl.” She was beaming.

King Leopold closed his eyes and pressed his fingers to his temple. “Born under the sign of purity, on a snowy night. White as Snow.” He declared, his words resolute. “Her name shall be Snow White.”

The woman curtsied and sank to the floor in a reverent bow, raising her hands. “The gods be praised. Long live King Leopold, long live Queen Eva, and long live Princess Snow White!”

Rumpelstiltskin left them chanting, “White as Snow, White as Snow, White as Snow…” as though the two had fallen under a spell.

He returned to his room, crawled into bed and hugged his legs to his stomach. It was awhile before he could sleep again.

#

The castle was abuzz with talk of the baby princess. Royals and nobles far and wide called, to pay homage to the infant. The clerics rejoiced over a child born under the sign of purity. They predicted her to be a great ruler; that she would be the rise and fall of many. Some said that she we born without flaws, without sin, immaculately conceived… as though she were perfection incarnate itself.

The queen didn’t leave her chambers for a full week, devoting herself wholly to Princess Snow White.

Rumpelstiltskin didn’t miss Queen Eva or her sour expressions. However, after hearing such praises made in regards to the princess, his interest was piqued. Naturally he wanted to see her too. Of course, per the queen’s instructions he was forbidden. That demon child will eat the princess! He overheard one servant confiding to another.

On the queen’s first outing since the birth, Rumpelstiltskin decided that he would use that opportunity to visit the princess himself. Because of his curse, he had no friends his age. No one had wanted to be near him, let alone play with him.

Creeping down the hall, he slipped into the queen’s chambers unseen and followed the cooing gurgle that led him to a white wooden cradle.

Lifting up on his tiptoes, he hunched over to peer into the opening.

His amber eyes settled on a pink, bald, squirming creature whose large unblinking eyes stared back at him. How the royals and the servants could hail the child as a beauty was beyond him. Princess Snow White resembled a tiny, shriveled up old man without any teeth.

_And somehow I am considered ugly._ Rumpelstiltskin snickered. But unlike the others in the castle, the baby did not flinch or scream in terror.

Rumpelstiltskin wiggled his fingers at her. “Good morning, princess. My name is Rumpelstiltskin. I live here too.” He racked his brain for something clever to say. “I can spin straw into gold.”

He dug through his pocket and withdrew the golden chain he had spun the day before. King Leopold was serious when he said that whatever gold Rumpelstiltskin produced belonged to the crown and the kingdom. But the way he figured it, this was the only thing that he could give the royal child, that came directly from him. The ones that visited had brought her gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The king wouldn’t mind this one time.

“Here.” Rumpelstiltskin laid the chain across the child’s belly. She was too young for it now, but when she was older, she could have it as a necklace. “I made that for you. You’re so funny looking, like wee elf. We can be friends. I need a friend.”

He never had a little brother or a little sister. Malcolm had told him that one child was more than enough. Being an only child had been lonely. But Princess Snow White… they would grow up together. She could be a little sister to him and then a friend.

“Stop!” Queen Eva screeched from the bedroom doorway. Hastening to the cradle, she knocked Rumpelstiltskin aside and draped herself over the cradle. “Don’t eat my baby! Get away.” She swung at him to shoo him off.

Rumpelstiltskin flinched, fearing that she might strike him. “I don’t eat people. I was just-” he protested.

Queen Eva straightened to her full height. She made the Sign of the X, to protect herself and the child. “Spare me. My husband lost his marbles when he acquired you. But you can’t fool me. You’re a demon spat up from hell to ruin us all.” Seizing him by one of his pixie ears, she dragged him out to the hall. He crumbled to the floor, shielding his head with his hands and arms as the queen threatened, “I’ll have you scourged if you go near the princess again. Now be gone!”

The queen slammed the door.

Rumpelstiltskin pressed against the wall, drawing his knees to his chest, he rested his forehead on his kneecaps. He ear ached from being jerked on, but that was the least of his worries. The queens words had wounded him and his one chance at friendship had been ruined.

King Leopold had found him like that an hour or so later. The queen’s behavior was excused, for she was tired and a new mother and highly emotional. He coaxed Rumpelstiltskin into a better mood, only to remind him he had to return to his spinning.

#

Rumpelstiltskin felt his eye lids droop. Sometimes when he spun for too long, his eyes fixated on the wheel, he would grow drowsy. Until he met his daily quota, a bushel full of gold thread, he was not permitted to set foot out of his room. After that, he could roam the castle and the grounds, so as long as he returned before nightfall. Though never again did he visit the new princess. Word had spread that the little beast had gotten hungry and was going to eat baby Snow White. Therefore guards were posted at the nursery door all day and all night.

Yawning, he stretched. Just another hour or so and he could quit for the day.

The door opened and King Leopold swept through, an older man trailing after him. The king meandered to the basket, surveying his work. He patted Rumpelstiltskin on the head.

“Rumpelstiltskin, how are you today?” He paused for a second, then continued on, not particularly interested in receiving a response. The royal motioned to the old man. “May I introduce the Apprentice? He is one of the greatest sorcerers in all the land. He has agreed to help you develop your magic.”

The Apprentice bowed his head. A long, yellowed beard coiled down from his chin, a yellow strip encircled his round head, like a furry crown. His weather beaten face testified that he was older than old…he was ancient. A pair of simple, warm eyes stared back. A regal red velvet garb hung on his wrinkled frame.

Rumpelstiltskin twisted his mouth into a scowl. He spent most of the day making gold for the kingdom and obeyed whatever orders the royals gave him. “But I can make gold. Isn’t that enough?” He reminded the king.

“You have such potential, you could be doing so much more. The possibilities are endless.” King Leopold said.

In the beginning, King Leopold had been good to him. Rumpelstiltskin thought the man might be a friend. But in three months’ time, the king had changed. The second he laid his eyes upon that first bushel basket of gold, a spell had been cast over him. Oh, the man was nice, but now the royal had an ulterior motive, prodding Rumpelstiltskin to do more.

He didn’t know how much King Leopold paid Malcolm, but surely after three months of spinning gold, Rumpelstiltskin figured he had to have earned his freedom.

“I don’t want to. I want to go home!” Rumpelstiltskin swiveled around on the bench, kicked the basket full of gold stands aside. “I want my papa.”

A harsh look flickered across the royal’s face. “You belong to the crown. Listen, your place is here for the rest of your days.” The king shot back.

They are never going to let me go. Rumpelstiltskin recoiled, hugging himself. More and more he had taken to hugging himself. They are going to hold onto me for forever!

“Now, listen to the Apprentice and show him the respect that is due him.” King Leopold ordered. “If I hear that you are disobedient, then you will be disciplined.”

Rumpelstiltskin shivered, a chill shooting through his body. The queen had threatened scourges if he approached Princess Snow White again. Only the gods knew what the king might have in mind.

King Leopold shook the Apprentice’s hand and quit the room. The door may have been closed, but Rumpelstiltskin twitched on hearing the shuffling of skirts. Queen Eva was out there.

“I don’t see why you permit such cheek from that demon. He ought to be locked down in the dungeon.” The queen declared.

Rumpelstiltskin hoped that it wouldn’t come to that. Once when he was naughty, his papa had locked him in a cellar. Dark, enclosed spaces frightened him. Dungeons were for torturing. That was where the threatened scourging would take place.

“My dear, the last thing we want to do is break his spirit. All will be well.” The king assured his wife. “You’ll see.”

He could hear the two of them step lightly down the hallway.

Rumpelstiltskin couldn’t fight it any longer and began to cry. No one cared about him; not his papa, not the royals, not the servants. No one wanted to be near him, no one could ever love him! There was no end in sight. He was going to be there forever.

The old man crossed the room and nudged Rumpelstiltskin’s shaking shoulder. “No, none of that. Come now, we must begin.” He urged.

“I don’t want to. I never asked for this. I hate my curse!” Rumpelstiltskin only cried harder.

“Curse? What curse? You are not cursed.” There was not a hint of sarcasm in his words. The Apprentice was speaking earnestly. He planted himself beside Rumpelstiltskin on the bench, shifting until they were facing one another. “You have a gift, boy. The gods bestowed this unique gift upon you.”

The tears ceased flowing. Rumpelstiltskin sniffed. “No, they didn’t! The gods hate me.”

What a thing to say! Whenever they were performing for a crowd, whilst he would spin straw into gold, Malcolm would entrance the audience with the tale of how the gods had smote him at birth. Of course Malcolm exaggerated some details for entertainment purposes, the truth could not be denied. He had been cursed and the gods had a hand in it. How the Apprentice could think otherwise was a mystery.

“Nonsense. The gods smile on you.” The Apprentice’s gaze was soft. When the older man looked upon him, Rumpelstiltskin didn’t detect any sign of disgust. The longer he peered into the man’s eyes, he felt mesmerized. Sort of like how he felt when he spun. “What has happened to you is wrong. It is a sin for one human being to own another. But what was done cannot be undone. “You have an opportunity to embrace who Rumpelstiltskin really is. Consider all of the good you could do. Not only for the royals, but for the whole world.”

Rumpelstiltskin rubbed his sweaty palms on his roughhewn trousers. He hadn’t thought of it like that. What Malcolm and the royals did was sinful, but good could come from it.

He could do good and be good. Perhaps if he did enough acts of goodness, the gods might lift the curse from him and then everyone could love him.

“If it is a gift, does that mean it can be taken away?” Rumpelstiltskin asked.

The Apprentice rested his careworn hand on Rumpelstiltskin’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Not if we work really, really hard. Trust me, you can do more than spin straw into gold. All right?”

Rumpelstiltskin found himself nodding. The Apprentice was a great sorcerer and could teach him all sorts of things. No doubt the man could relate to him better than the others.  
“Good boy.” The Apprentice’s bearded cheek twitched until he offered a full-fledged smile. “Let us begin.”

Perhaps things wouldn’t be so bad after all. If he could earn the trust of others, they might eventually love him.

#

In the following weeks, Rumpelstiltskin met with the Apprentice for a couple of hours every day to learn the basics of magic and once had that down pat, they moved on to more complicated things. From producing a tiny flame of fire on his finger tip, to changing his clothes with a single thought, to speaking an object into existence. The more difficult challenges required more attention. Such as changing fate, smiting someone with an affliction, and turning one object into another.

Wise lessons had accompanied all of these great accomplishments. With such power required much responsibility. When one practiced magic, one had to be careful. Magic could be addictive. It could lead to a darkness which could devour the soul. The Apprentice called it falling into the deep. The darkness would claim your emotions, your appetite, and your ability sleep and in time it would warp his mind. The only way to reap magic’s rewards was to harness the passion within and to stay on the path of righteousness.

Rumpelstiltskin soon formed a fast friendship with the Apprentice. Though the older sorcerer never said it, he showed him kindness and love. It made him realize that his papa Malcolm never had loved him and never would.

If the Apprentice could love him, he figured that in time others would too.

#

Transportation was the most difficult obstacle to overcome. It had taken him three whole days of failure before Rumpelstiltskin accomplished that final challenge. He realized that instead of knitting his brow and using all of his concentration, that magic was not a product of thought. Or of wishes. It was emotion. Tapping into that ball of passion within and drawing from that, he summoned a cloud of purple smoke and transported himself from the garden to his room.

Coughing and fanning the purple into wisps, he danced a small jig.

_I did it!_ Rumpelstiltskin clapped. Flinging the door open, he dashed down the hallway, allowing his heightened senses to guide him to the Apprentice. As he drew near to the dining room, he halted. Inhaling, he thinned himself out, blending into the back ground. A moment later and he was invisible.

 

_I’ll sneak up behind him and scare him! Rumpelstiltskin decided as he tiptoed closer to his teacher._ The king was at the head of the table, nursing his goblet of wine. He could imagine startling the royal, upsetting that wine onto his white tunic and trousers. Having never played a practical joke before, he was trembling with excitement.

The Apprentice hadn’t detected his presence. He was too wrapped up in devouring his plate of roast swan. His attention was diverted, by the meal and the conversation. The two men were speaking in hushed tones, but Rumpelstiltskin was able to get close enough to hear them.

“He is doing well?” King Leopold asked.

“Rumpelstiltskin has more than exceeded my expectations. He is a bright boy and he should do the kingdom proud. Provided he stays on the side of good.” The Apprentice shredded his meat; smacking his lips together he took one bite after another, scarcely giving himself a chance to swallow.

Rumpelstiltskin raised his arms up, positioning himself like a bear. He had claws like that beast after all.

“The gods forbid he succumbs to his inner darkness.” The Apprentice continued, let out a guttural cackle. “The boy craves affection. Show him a little kindness now and then and he will be loyal as a dog.”

Rumpelstiltskin dropped his arms to his sides. He recoiled from the sorcerer. The Apprentice was still unaware that he was in the room. No, it couldn’t be. The Apprentice was nice. The Apprentice had been on his side.

No. That was what the king and the Apprentice had wanted him to think. They had waited until he was weak to manipulate him. Everyone was like that. His papa, the king, the Apprentice.

_No could ever love me._ Rumpelstiltskin realized. Better he figure it out now than later.

The king joined in laughter, throwing his head back. “And here I thought we would have to scour all the realms for the ideal mongrel, all the while the perfect pet resided beneath our roof.” He extended his hand to the sorcerer and they shook on their success. “Thank you for your help.”

“Any time, my king.” The Apprentice released the man’s grasp and lifted his own goblet of wine to the royal in a toast.

Rumpelstiltskin’s fingers twitched. His hand was hot; in his mind he was already conjuring a small ball of fire in his palm. Primed to hurl it at the Apprentice, he thought better of it and closed his hand.

_I have a better idea._ Rumpelstiltskin smiled and with a twist of his wrist, he transported himself to his room.

#

Rumpelstiltskin was working on his day’s quota, figuring that he was half done when the Apprentice entered the room.

Rumpelstiltskin slowed the wheel and swiveled around on the bench. He pasted an angelic smile on his face.

The older man nodded to him. “Rumpelstiltskin, I’m glad to have caught you. The king is sending me to Avonlea and I wanted to tell you farewell.” The sorcerer blinked, then studied his face. “What is it? You look upset.”

“You lied to me.” Rumpelstiltskin permitted his mask to fall away and flashed his dark teeth. “You pretended to care about me and you didn’t.”

“T-that’s not t-true.” The Apprentice shook his head, growing whiter than usual.

Rumpelstiltskin shot to his feet and took slow, menacing steps towards the man. “I heard what you told the king. That I’m no different than a dog.”

The Apprentice retreated back a couple paces. One of the greatest sorcerers in the land quaked in his presence! “That- that was not what I m-meant. Y-ou m-misunderstood.” He sputtered.

“No, I didn’t.” Rumpelstiltskin replied. He whispered an incantation and snapped his fingers.

“What have you done?” The Apprentice toppled to his hands and knees and was unable to straighten upright. “Rumpelstiltskin!”

The Apprentice transformed from into a man into a Chocolate Labrador. His widened eyes innocently darted back and forth; his long pink tongue flopped out of his mouth; and his tail wagged wildly.

Rumpelstiltskin stroked his soft head, scratching behind the dog’s ears. “The royals wanted a pet. Now they have one.” He magicked a dog biscuit into existence and fed it to his new friend. “Good boy. Now I have a few tricks I want you to learn.”

The royals may have had plans for him, but they made a mistake and had him learn about power. Now they had to reap what they had sown.

But for now, he could be a little happy. He had a true friend.

**Author's Note:**

> For those interested, I am hosting a Rumpelstiltskin themed giveaway on my tumblr blog. Check out: http://bookwormchocaholic.tumblr.com/post/147284008349/bookwormchocaholics-200-follower-giveaway for more information.
> 
>  
> 
> http://bookwormchocaholic.tumblr.com/post/147545854504/into-the-deep
> 
> Special thanks to @onceuponanovel who designed my cover art. Thank you, sissy!


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